Lake County Commissioner Leslie Campione has been hanging tough in her fight against a steep tax hike for county residents.
Her last stand will take place during a public hearing at 5 p.m. Tuesday at the county administration building in Tavares.
Originally, the commission had planned to raise taxes 18 percent, but later ratcheted it back to 11 percent.
But after three hours of blistering criticism from the citizenry in a Sept. 3 public hearing, commissioners voted 3-2 to nudge the increase back up to 13 percent. Campione and Commissioner Tim Sullivan voted against the increase.
“The people of Lake County have worked hard to weather the economic storm and raising taxes on our property owners is the wrong thing to do,” she said.
Campione, a former Lady Lake town attorney, has consistently argued against the tax increase, butting heads with fellow commissioners.
“The taxpayers of Lake County who are paying attention are with her,” said Lady Lake Commissioner Paul Hannan, who has worked on Campione’s previous campaign.
Lady Lake commissioners recently approved a tax hike, and Hannan, like Campione, voted against the increase.